Alison Ashe-Card, left, and LaTida Smith
Message TO OUR COMMUNITY For more than 100 years, this community has come together in partnership with the Foundation to address our most pressing challenges and build a brighter future for our residents. We are honored to continue this great legacy of community philanthropy—inspired by the generosity of our donors, encouraged by the creativity and dedication of our nonprofit partners, and compelled by the persistent local needs only exacerbated by the extended COVID-19 pandemic. Our mission-driven work continued in earnest last year. Community members contributed $182 million to establish charitable funds and to support our work. We awarded a record $1.4 million in scholarships to local students. We invested $2.8 million in Forsyth County nonprofits to strengthen their operations and to build equity in education and economic opportunity for residents. The Black Philanthropy Initiative granted $220,000, doubling its grantmaking to strengthen local Black communities.
It’s also been an exciting time of many new beginnings for the Foundation. I joined as our fifth president last fall, and Alison was elected chair of The Winston-Salem Committee in January. We just welcomed three new board members: Matt Cullinan, Carol Davis and Tom Lawson. This year we’ll be increasing staff capacity to accomplish our critical work, and we look forward to welcoming new members to our team. We look forward to gathering together as soon as it is safe to do so. In the meantime, we hope this report provides an update on the ways we’re working in partnership with nonprofits, donors, and other engaged community members to advance our mission. As we begin this new year, our focus remains the same. We are driven by our commitment to inspire philanthropy and link resources to action to strengthen Forsyth County. We thank you for your partnership, and we look forward to continuing our intentional work together. In community, LaTida Smith, President The Winston-Salem Foundation
Alison Ashe-Card, Chair The Winston-Salem Foundation Committee